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President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to make community college tuition-free. He will also be offering a similar benefit for students from families with working-class incomes or lower to attend state schools as well. Biden said a high school diploma is no longer enough for the occupational demands of the 21st Century. He tweeted and said, “That’s why under the Biden-Harris plan, the community college will be free and public colleges and universities will be tuition-free for families earning less than $125,000 a year”. Biden allies in the US Congress have for some time-pressed for similar measures to be taken by the new administration. Sen. Charles Schumer has urged Biden to alleviate the financial pressure facing American students.

Schumer delivered his remarks earlier this month and called for the erasure of student loan debt. He pointed out $90 billion in arrears being held by students in the Empire State alone. Schumer said, “College should be a ladder up, but student debt makes it an anchor down. For far too many students and graduate students, some years out of school, student loans and federal student loans are becoming a forever burden”. Reps.-elect Mondaire Jones, Jamaal Bowman, and Ritchie Torres are newly-elected progressives headed to the US Congress from the metro region attended that announcement with Schumer. Biden’s announcement echoed pledges listed on his campaign website. It says, “All of these proposals will be implemented in partnership with states as well as school faculty and staff”.

The statement adds, “Educators must play a key role in decisions affecting teaching and learning”. The tweet also came one day after Biden’s announcement of Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona as his intended choice for US Secretary of Education. The education commissioner, Cardona has been a vociferous advocate of sending children back to school for in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. He pointed to the low transmission rate among children and the devastating setbacks of remote learning. It is noteworthy that Cardona would be able to push for re-openings nationwide if confirmed. Biden has pledged to have most schools reopened by his 100th day in office.